Where love has been stored
by Liphuggers
Summary: After Norman and Rita's wedding, Oliver discovers just how deep his and Shane's love run for each other.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I do not own the characters

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Oliver offered to drive Shane home after Rita and Norman's wedding. They stayed long enough and thought the newlyweds should enjoy the rest of their evening. They discussed the wedding, what they liked and what they'd do differently. As the conversation lulled, Shane smiled as she looked down at her finger. She sighed contently and thought contemplatively over their relationships, work, friendship, dating and now tonight, fiancees. Shane looked over at Oliver, not at all surprised to see him smiling and looking at her. He turned back to look at the road and held out his hand for hers. She took it and interlocked their fingers. He brought their hands up to his lips and kissed hers right below the ring. Shane smiled brightly.

"I love you."

Oliver pulled up to Shane's house, leaned over and lightly kissed her lips. "I love you too." He smiled. "Let me get the door for you."

She sat and watched him go around the front of the car and to the side. He pulled at his suit jacket in his regular manner. He opened the door, offered his hand to help her out, and closed the door behind her. He wrapped her hand around the inside of his elbow as they lazily walked up her pathway, up the steps and onto the porch. Oliver went to open her door for her, but she untangled from him and strolled over to the porch swing, sat down and patted the seat next to her. Oliver smiled, meandered over to her, sat down and put his arm around her. She sighed and rested her head on his shoulder.

"You know what else I love?" She said in almost a whisper.

"This porch swing?" He matched her soft voice.

She smiled and lightly laughed. "Obviously, we end most of our date nights here." Oliver chuckled. "I love how your dad bought you this." She pulled the green tie out of his suit pocket. She wrapped it loosely around her right hand and set it down in her lap. "I also love that you wore it in front of all of Norman and Rita's guests." He smiled, turned his head, kissed her on the side of her head and rested his head on hers. "I love how you proposed in the traditional O'Toole family way." She laughed and snuggled into his body more. "I love my ring, your grandmother's ring, a real family heirloom. It's beautiful, thank you."

Oliver picked up her hand and looked at the ring he placed on her finger just a few hours ago. "Well, my love, I love that you love all of those things, and that you've been patient with me. I truly love you." Shane turned her head towards him and they smiled blissfully at one another. She leaned in closer to him until her lips met his. She clutched the tie in her lap.

Shane pulled away slightly and rested her forehead on his. She put her hand on his heart, under his jacket, and felt it beating in perfect unison with hers. She bit her lip. "Mind if I keep this?" She dangled the plaid green tie in front of them.

"Why would you want-" She shrugged her shoulders, crinkled her nose and giggled. He quietly laughed at the sight of her. "It's late and I have church in the morning." Shane nodded and handed him her keys. He unlocked and opened her door.

She squeezed in between the door jam and him. "Good night, fiance." She teased. They both really loved their new title.

"Good night, Miss McInerney." Oliver said coyly. She tried to hide the big smile he elicited from her. She leaned up and lightly kissed his cheek. As she moved past him and into her house, Oliver grabbed her waist and spun her around. She studied his serious face when all of a sudden the corners of his mouth turned upwards. He leaned in quickly to kiss her. She was pleasantly surprised. Her hands found the back of his neck, as they did countless times over the course of their dating relationship and did her best to lightly tug at his hair with the tie in her hand. He reluctantly stopped kissing her and smiled. He slightly bent down to her again and added one… two… three more light kisses to her soft lips. "Just getting you back for that tie pull earlier this evening." One of his eyebrows went up and his trademark crooked smile graced his face. "Good night, my love." He added one more, long, sweet kiss to her growing collection. "I love you." Oliver smiled again and let go of her.

"I love you so much." She smiled vibrantly. "I'll be over after you've gone to church tomorrow." She turned and closed the door behind her. Oliver smiled and sighed contently, turned on his heels and walked back to his car as if he were floating on a cloud.

Monday morning came around rather too quickly for both of them. He rang her doorbell.

"Good morning Oliver." She stood on her tip toes to kiss him.

"Good morning, Shane." He smiled and loved how she beamed when he said her name.

"I'm almost ready, coffee should be done soon." She pointed to the counter as she walked out of the room.

The coffee started to drip into the pot as Oliver moved around Shane's kitchen effortlessly. He added two heaping spoonfuls of sugar and non-fat milk he had just gathered, into one of the two travel mugs he took out of the cabinet, and poured coffee into both.

He saw the newspaper on her kitchen table and smiled. Shane had gotten a subscription after a debate they had one evening about paper versus digital. She still used her laptop and phone to check any new developments on a story, but she made an effort to 'get her hands inky', especially on Sundays. Oliver attempted to read the paper while he waited, but his thoughts traveled to the memory of the last few Sundays. He either came over to Shane's house or she'd come over to his after he had been to church. Shane still wasn't quite ready to attend with him, but she had told him she would attend in the very near future. He hoped in the next couple of weeks. His thoughts drifted back to the faint ghosting sound of newspaper crinkling, reading different interesting stories to each other, and the aroma of different blends of coffee brewing, or tea steeping. The memory from yesterday seemed to dance right in front of him. The two of them on the couch with Shane's legs draped over his, the touch of his hand on her ankle, the sight of her playing with her ring absent-mindedly and the sound of their laughs serenading his home while she read the comics to him.

As Oliver tried to hold on to that day dream, until his eyes focused on the other contents of her table, a stack of wedding magazines and an over-sized shoe box that had postcards printed on it. He took a sip of coffee and attempted to read the paper once again. His mind didn't seem to be interested in the written word at the moment, but the slightly opened box. Oliver knew he shouldn't look, but he was drawn to it. He took a peak over his shoulder and focused back on the box. He pulled it toward himself and opened it fully.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed and favorited this little story of mine. A special thank you to Ruth, Maria and Dan for helping during my "research". This is the last chapter, so please read and enjoy!

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The first item he saw in the box was his green tie from Saturday night. He held it in his hand and scoffed. He looked through the box more. He found a bunch of pictures they had taken together and some with Norman and Rita, the map she bought to find Danny Marashak, all the failed recipe attempts he made at making her a bee pollen and ginger kombucha smoothie like Eleanor in passports had perfected, the valentine he made for her asking her to Montaldo's, his favorite letter opener that he had wondered if she still had, a Billy Joel CD case without the CD and all the way at the bottom, a pressed yellow flower in wax paper with the words 'Last rose of summer'. He thought of the first rose of summer she had given to him. He laughed to himself, because he too had pressed his flower in Shakespeare's " _A Midsummer's Night Dream_ ". He also had the napkin from the E-Flat Lounge she doodled on a few pages away, and next to his Shakespearean collection on his bookshelf, were the letters she wrote him when she was "out of the country".

Oliver was surprised when he felt Shane run her hand down his arm to where he held onto the tie, and tangled her hand up with his. Her other arm curled along his other arm and she placed her hand on his shoulder as she rested her head on her hand. He felt a slight blush race across his face.

"I didn't mean to-"

"Shhh…" She echoed him from last week when he caught her in the wedding dress. She smiled as she gazed at all of her treasures laid out on her table. "You found my memory box." She whispered in his ear.

"It was just sitting here, opened, well…" He cleared his throat. "Semi-opened." He felt another wave of blush float across his face.

"Well I had to take out the box to put this in it." She replied in her normal voice and squeezed their hands that embraced the green tie.

"For your… memory box…" He said pensively.

"Yes." She flirtatiously dragged her hand that rested on his shoulder, along his back and supported herself against the table without letting their hands separate and smiled. "Don't you see, Oliver? It's a memory box of things you and I have been through. It's a box where my love for you is stored." Oliver felt a new wave of love for her flutter over him. She paused and laughed. "And this is really starting to grow on me." She playfully twirled the end of the tie with her thumb.

Oliver chuckled too. "I suppose it's not such a terrible tie."

"Maybe we can take it out in a few years and you can wear it for our anniversary!" She half quipped.

Oliver put his finger up in the air, "Or…" he reluctantly let go of her hand as he started to put her story of their love back in her postcard printed box. "We can buy a nicer green tie that doesn't stand out as much, and have that one symbolize our new life." He said smiling and placing it neatly back in its new home.

Shane laughed and clapped her hands together in excitement. "Even better! But I will say this; it does remind me of the different plaid and checkered suits you wear." She said while closing the lid.

Oliver remembered Shane had said she liked seeing him in his plaid suits, ever since he put his coat on her to take the chill off from the night air, while they ate their sandwich dinner on the steps somewhere on the National Mall in Washington D.C. He then thought of who helped them while they were there.

"Do you have other boxes filled with, uh… other memories?" He asked while not being able to look at her.

Shane scanned his face and found her answer as if it were written across his face. She wrapped her arms loosely around his neck as she whispered in his ear. "There was never anything from anyone else that was worth keeping. I've loved you for so long, that if I didn't…" She tried to stop her voice from shaking. "I loved you for so long, that if I didn't keep anything and something happened with…" She didn't want to say the two women's names that also had a piece of Oliver's heart at one point. She let go of him and took half a step backward. The tears started to fall onto her face and she knew she couldn't stop anything. "Holly or Dale, then you'd only be a memory of someone I loved. Over time, memories fade. I didn't want you to fade away. I couldn't let you fade."

"Oh, Shane." Oliver stood up, turned and locked eyes with her. He saw the pain she carried around for all those years. He held her close to him. "You have turned my entire life around from the moment you walked into the DLO. I promised you the other night that I will love you forever. I intend on keeping that promise and showing you every day just how much I love you." He searched her eyes for some ease to the pain, but he only saw the love she has for him and all the love she still has yet to give. He sighed and kissed her forehead. "Forever. My Shane, my love." He repeated from Saturday night.

Shane hugged him a little tighter, knowing she just broke down one of the last remaining concrete walls protecting her heart. She breathed him in, that old familiar intoxicating scent that is specifically Oliver. She fell in love with it that night at the DLO when she changed the song for their dance routine.

"Oliver," She steadied her voice, but could only manage a whisper. "I love you, with every fiber of my being." Suddenly she felt the final walls that remained guarding her heart; crumble into a pile of dust. She couldn't hold back the sobs any longer.

Oliver felt the tears that built up in his eyes escape down his cheeks. He knew she had buried that pain, they both did and it needed to be set free, before they started their new life together. He hugged her tight and reflected on what Shane had just said. He loved hearing her say his name. No pet name they could ever think of would sound any better than the way she says his name and those three little words after it. He pulled away only to seal her words with a long, slow kiss.

Oliver looked at her and smiled. He knew she wouldn't want to go to work with her face all red. He grabbed two tissues, one for him and one for her. They blotted their eyes and Oliver walked over to her sink, grabbed a paper towel and put it under cool water. He walked back over to her and lightly brushed her face with the damp paper towel. She smiled and blushed, which made Oliver chuckle. He changed the subject to one of a lighter variety.

"I see you've already started to prepare?" He pointed to the stack of wedding magazines on her table. She laughed.

"No, not really, Rita dropped those by earlier on their way to Grand Lakes for their honeymoon."

"Not really?" He caught her words.

"I mean, I've thought about having the reception at the Mailbox Grille, where we first danced and thought it would be nice to have our first dance as a married couple there. I also thought about wildflowers that grow here and maybe some roses mixed in, and I'd like to get married in your- our church." She sweetly smiled.

Oliver smiled brilliantly. He picked her up, twirled her around and as he lowered her to the ground he kissed her as if she just said 'I will marry you' all over again.

"Miss McInerney…" They both smiled as Oliver looked at his pocket watch. "I believe we will be late for work if we continue with our diversions." He smiled again.

"Well Mr. O'Toole, the future Mrs. Oliver O'Toole thinks being late just this once is exactly what we need." She wrapped her arms around his neck again and pulled him in for another long kiss. She grabbed his suit lapels and pulled him towards the door. "Don't forget the coffee! We'll heat them up at work." She winked at him, put the key in the door, waited for him to get the two travel mugs and locked the door behind them.


End file.
